Sixty-nine percent of HR buyers are gaining optimism about the economy in 2011, and nearly twenty five percent plan to increase their budgets for HR-related products and services.

These findings and more appear in the research report from HRmarketer.com, ' Trends in HR Marketing: HR Buyers' Behavior ' What to Expect in 2011 .' It's the fifth report in an annual series started in 2006. Data in the report is based on responses from human resource decision makers collected in January and February 2011.

The report provides information on trends and best practices for marketing to the human capital marketplace, and more specifically on the purchasing behavior of the typical HR buyer. It also includes an analysis of HR buyer research and purchasing trends and their budget priorities in 2011.

Key findings include:

Forty-seven percent of HR professionals report their company will hire 10%-20% more staff in 2011

Twenty-four percent of HR buyers plan on increasing their budgets for HR-related products and services in 2011

As a group, HR buyers plan on increasing their budgets by 20% or more in 2011 for recruitment, training & education, performance management, management & leadership development, assessment and background checks

LinkedIn is far and away the most popular social networking service among HR decision makers with nearly 95% using it for business purposes

Sixty-nine percent of HR buyers are somewhat to highly optimistic about the economy and think that business is starting to improve in 2011

'Following a year filled with occasional signs of optimism, this new report is evidence that positive momentum is steadily increasing across the HR industry in 2011,' says Mark Willaman, founder and president of HRmarketer.com. 'We're especially happy to learn that a greater percentage of HR professionals expect to see increased hiring.'

About HRmarketer.comHRmarketer.com is a product of Fisher Vista LLC, a marketing software and services firm focusing exclusively on the human capital and healthcare markets. The company has worked with nearly 1,000 human resource and healthcare providers, helping them generate publicity, website traffic, sales leads and improved SEO.